As for known working devices for condensers, one is suggested in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 7-229695, which comprises guide rails extending along the surface of the tube sheet in the water chamber, and a working robot adapted to move while being guided along said guide rails. Another is suggested in Japanese Patent Unexamined Laid-open Applications No. 51-10201 and No. 3-199802, in which a robot body having a plurality of legs inserted in the openings in narrow tubes is provided with a working arm, said robot being moved along the tube sheet.
In this connection, although manholes formed in the water chambers of condensers have recently tended to increase in size, conventional manholes are as small as about 500 mm or at most 600 mm in diameter, and it is necessary to carry in components for guide rails and a robot through such manholes. Such conventional robot has its travel mechanism section and working mechanism section separately constructed, so that, though simplified in mechanism, the robot has not a few components and becomes large-sized, making it necessary to disassemble the robot before the latter can be carried into or out of the water chamber through the manhole. Therefore, there has been a problem that the operating time required for assembling and disassembling the robot in the water chamber and carrying it in and out increases.
The present invention is intended to solve said problems and provide a compact working robot for heat exchangers and a method of operating the same.